Which DVD Burner?

by **SkaarjMaster** on Thu Dec 11, 2003 8:05 pm

Let's assume that I'm getting a DVD burner today. I've narrowed it down to 4 and they are listed here based on price (lowest price found today) and speed strangely enough.

Lite-On LDW-811S
8X DVD+R, 4X DVD-R, 40X CD-R
$149 at newegg

OptoRite DD0401
8X DVD+R, 4X DVD-R, 40X CD-R
$138 at newegg

Sony DWU14A
4X DVD+R, 4X DVD-R, 24X CD-R
$134 at newegg

Pioneer 106D
4X DVD+R, 4X DVD-R, 16X CD-R
$120 at gameVE

I've already read some reviews and a few comments in this and other forums about some of these, but don't know much about others. I know that a lot of people have the OptoRite and Pioneer and recommend these drives; others have the Lite-On and recommend it. I also know that the Pioneer is probably better at burning DVDs because of its media compatibility, but the Lite-On is better at CDs and may have some firmware upgrades in the future to make it more media compatible. Seems like the most bang for my buck is the OptoRite and I would like to have a faster CD burning speed than 16X. Any ideas on these 4 drives? Thank you.

by **BurninMan921** on Thu Dec 11, 2003 8:15 pm

Well, you're right about the Lite-On/Pioneer drives. I agree the Optorite is the best-bang for the buck. It's the one I just got (burning my first disc now!). I plan on some through testing tonight and tomorrow. Mostly HD-BURN (it's the main reason I got it), but I should have some Ritek 8x DVD+R and Verbatium 4x DVD+R's tomorrow. Right now, I don't have any blank DVD's at all...

So...I'll report back tomorrow

by **gceusa** on Thu Dec 11, 2003 8:41 pm

I'm in the market myself, and after reading many reviews both professional and by end users, plan to go with the Pioneer 106. I was going to wait til April for the DVD+R DL burners, but the price may be prohibitive.

by **SkaarjMaster** on Thu Dec 11, 2003 9:42 pm

Anyone know when Pioneer is coming out with their 8X/4X/40X DVD burner? That would pretty much clinch it for them. I checked their web site and there's an expo going on right now and another event in early January 2004 where they are supposed to showcase their 2004 products.

Right now as it stands across 7 different hardware forums with subtracting a vote for people saying NO to a product, here are the results:

Lite-On >> 17
Pioneer >> 14
Sony >> 1
OptoRite >> 1

....above will be edited as needed.

by **aviationwiz** on Thu Dec 11, 2003 9:48 pm

I know that on the newegg poll, about who makes the best DVD Burners, Plextor was on top.

Question: Who makes the BEST DVD burner? AOPEN 0.41%
3 votes
ASUS 1.89%
14 votes
BENQ 0.54%
4 votes
HEWLETT-PACKARD 0.95%
7 votes
LG Electronics 3.38%
25 votes
LITE ON 22.87%
169 votes
NEC 3.79%
28 votes
OPTORITE 1.35%
10 votes
PIONEER 20.03%
148 votes
PLEXTOR 28.15%
208 votes
SONY 14.21%
105 votes
OTHERS 2.43%
18 votes

Total Votes: 739

by **SkaarjMaster** on Thu Dec 11, 2003 11:50 pm

Well, for the Plextor price I should expect 40X CD-R burning, but not yet. The TDK does though; and yes, it's a refurbished or whatever Plextor. It's interesting that Lite-On takes 2nd place and Pioneer 3rd.

....correction, someone has the Plextor specs wrong (Is it newegg or a review?), but it DOES burn CD-Rs at 40X, so now only price is holding me back from a Plextor!

by **aviationwiz** on Fri Dec 12, 2003 12:03 am

Yeah, I don't know what those people were on when they voted. While I do think that the PX-708A is the best DVD Burner around, I expected Pioneer to come out on top, followed shortly behind by Plextor (it is actually the other way around) Why? More people have the Pioneer as it has been out longer, and more people buy it due to a more attractive price tag.

by **vsekh** on Fri Dec 12, 2003 12:28 am

The reason why Plextor got more votes is because more user's have bought the Plextor since it was the first dvd-burner did 8x DVD+R burning (on 4x DVD+R media) compared to the Liteon 811s that is 8x DVD+R compatible, but does not burn on any of the 4x DVD+R media that is available. They would be forced to buy expensive 8x DVD+R media that just came out.

by **dolphinius_rex** on Fri Dec 12, 2003 2:57 am

umm, no. That isn't true... and that has already been corrected once by dh014 (if I remember correctly) in another topic.

by **MikeTR** on Fri Dec 12, 2003 5:53 am

aviationwiz wrote:I know that on the newegg poll, about who makes the best DVD Burners, Plextor was on top.

Question: Who makes the BEST DVD burner?
AOPEN 0.41% 3 votes
ASUS 1.89% 14 votes
BENQ 0.54% 4 votes
H-P 0.95% 7 votes
LG 3.38% 25 votes
LITE-ON 22.87% 169 votes
NEC 3.79% 28 votes
OPTORITE 1.35% 10 votes
PIONEER 20.03% 148 votes
PLEXTOR 28.15% 208 votes
SONY 14.21% 105 votes
OTHERS 2.43% 18 votes

Total Votes: 739

LOL, those polls always make me laugh.

From a total number of 739 they draw a result in % to two decimal places. Now that's good science for you :roll:

.

by **Bhairav** on Fri Dec 12, 2003 10:24 am

Yo SkaarjMaster :
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php ... did=699982

At least change the wordings a bit :roll:

by **SkaarjMaster** on Fri Dec 12, 2003 11:29 am

Hehe, you must be TechHead over there. Surprisingly enough, there are very few people that go to multiple forums or at least very few that admit it. Usually when I got an important question I'll ask in multiple forums. I actually just registered and found this one a couple days ago. Well, I'm now a member of 8 hardware forums, so I think I'll stop registering for new ones for a while, hehe. :wink:

by **dolphinius_rex** on Fri Dec 12, 2003 12:16 pm

I don't know, I think most of the people that answer questions on here go to at least 2 or 3 forums each... myself included

by **integspec** on Fri Dec 12, 2003 1:57 pm

Liteon: for price, performance and added value.

by **aviationwiz** on Fri Dec 12, 2003 8:28 pm

Here's the poll, but with a lot more votes:

Question: Who makes the BEST DVD burner? AOPEN 0.83%
26 votes
ASUS 1.6%
50 votes
BENQ 0.54%
17 votes
HEWLETT-PACKARD 1.47%
46 votes
LG Electronics 3.16%
99 votes
LITE ON 22.16%
694 votes
NEC 3.54%
111 votes
OPTORITE 1.6%
50 votes
PIONEER 15.93%
499 votes
PLEXTOR 29.66%
929 votes
SONY 16.44%
515 votes
OTHERS 3.07%
96 votes

Total Votes: 3132

by **gceusa** on Fri Dec 12, 2003 9:10 pm

There should be a poll on how many problems people had with each of those burners. I think those results would tell the real story.

by **Bhairav** on Sat Dec 13, 2003 3:03 am

SkaarjMaster wrote:Hehe, you must be TechHead over there. Surprisingly enough, there are very few people that go to multiple forums or at least very few that admit it. Usually when I got an important question I'll ask in multiple forums. I actually just registered and found this one a couple days ago. Well, I'm now a member of 8 hardware forums, so I think I'll stop registering for new ones for a while, hehe.

Nahh.. it's cool. Yeah, I'm TechHead there. Go for a little originality though

by **Rockymaru** on Sat Dec 13, 2003 7:35 pm

Hi guys, I'm in the same boat as SkaarjMaster. However I came across the BENQ DW800A 8X DVD+ REWRITABLE DRIVE, a brand I never heard of but boasts pretty nice results. It doesn't support DVD-R/RW, but it seems now that more and more DVD players support +R/RW anyway.
Here are some of the spec's:

DVD Speed - 8X Writing, 4X Rewriting, 12X Reading
CD Speed - 24X Writing, 10X Rewriting, 40X Reading
8MB Internal Data Buffer Size
120ms Random Access Time
Better compatibility with Popular Home Theater DVD Systems.
Bundled Software (Nero Express, WinCinema, WinDVD).
Seamless Link Technology for the smallest recording gaps in the world.
Mt. Rainier compliant.

It's DIRT cheap and can be found for only $130, but I don't trust this as I haven't seen ONE review on this drive. The thing I like about it, is that it has an 8MB Internal Data Buffer Size. Most I see are only 2MB. However, I'm not entirely sure what this means. I know it has to do w/ preventing buffer underruns, but does it do anything else?

by **aviationwiz** on Sat Dec 13, 2003 7:46 pm

While having an 8MB buffer certaintly doesn't hurt. In my experience, a 2MB buffer is fine. I have yet to recieve a buffer under-run error, or even have Nero tell me that the buffer under-run protection had to kick in to prevent a buffer under-run, that includes writing at 52x CD, and writing at 8x DVD+R.

by **SkaarjMaster** on Sun Dec 14, 2003 4:23 pm

Anymore votes? Looks like Pioneer and Lite-On. People have also been suggesting the Plextor, so here's the plan. I'll wait for Pioneer to release their 8X version and then look at specs and prices from Pioneer, Lite-On and Plextor and decide when I'm ready to order in Feb. 2004. Of course, I'm still considering others, but right now it looks like it will be one of these three.

by **gceusa** on Sun Dec 14, 2003 5:19 pm

If it's between those three, I'll choose Pioneer for it's quality, compatibility, and price. Lite-On is too risky for my money and Plextor, although it makes a product as good or maybe better than Pioneer, is too pricey.

by **DVD_ADDICT** on Sun Dec 14, 2003 11:47 pm

Just don't buy a Nec 1300a. I own a Plextor and have had no problems with it. I see on other forum sites the problems Nec 1300a has. There's so many firmware upgrades to that brand I'm not surprised so many people have problems with it. Plextor has their share of problems too. All in all from what I've read on many different forum sites is that dvd burning has so many variables. It would depend on what programs you use and what brand of dvd media and also on your how your pc is set up internally. Every brand has it's pro's and con's. I like Plextor's reliability and will continue to purchase their products.

by **aviationwiz** on Sun Dec 14, 2003 11:51 pm

DVD_ADDICT wrote:I like Plextor's reliability and will continue to purchase their products.

Deffinetly agreed!

by **vsekh** on Mon Dec 15, 2003 12:30 am

If you get the Plextor now, you won't have to upgrade later when you end up wanting an 8X dvd-burner.

by **Mystery Man** on Mon Dec 15, 2003 4:29 am

vsekh wrote:If you get the Plextor now, you won't have to upgrade later when you end up wanting an 8X dvd-burner.

I'll skip the 8X burners & wait for the 12X. My pioneer only two months old

Which DVD Burner?

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